1000
by Striking Falcon
Summary: For years Kagome has wanted to be stronger, to be faster, to be more than just a jewel detector and potential kidnap victim. The guilt she's felt for hindering her friends slowly and silently eats at her until one day-one fateful day-when she just so happ
1. Part One: The Myth

-According to Japanese legend, a human can become a youkai after bathing in the blood of a thousand youkai

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Inuyasha. I don't own the anime where I got this idea from either. They all belong to their respected owners and I hope like anything that no one decides to sue.

1000

Part One: The Myth

She jerked up sharply, her math homework forgotten as brown eyes focused on the television screen. She'd heard it-somehow-through the haze of formulas, fractions, and equations and had latched onto it like a vice.

"Souta, rewind it. Go back a bit."

"Girl, please," Souta, all of fifteen years old and decidedly taller than his older sibling (even sitting on the floor as they were now). "This is a DVD player. You can't rewind a DVD." He shook his head in disapproval and picked the remote control off of the nearby coffee table. "Way too much time in the Feudal Era," he mumbled under his breath.

"Well go back then," Kagome growled and reached for a couch pillow. She watched it bounce off his head with a satisfying thump and grinned at his shout of protest. "DVDs do that, don't they? Hurry up and go back."

"Fine, fine," Souta grumbled and did as she asked. He stopped at her signal and frowned, wondering what it was about the anime that caught her attention. He supposed that it made some sense, seeing as how it was about four guys that were traveling across the country. He didn't understand exactly what was going on plot wise but he knew that one of the four guys was a gun toting monk, something that earned the anime series a A+ in his book. He shrugged, then turned when a soft "hn" came from his older sister.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked when Kagome slapped her book closed and jumped to her feet. "Where ya goin'?"

"Where's Oji-san?" Kagome asked as she began to leave the living room. "Never mind. I bet he's somewhere near the shrine house."

"What's going on?" Souta asked and sat up. He frowned when she opened the front door, leaving him to stew in his curiosity. "Hn," he shrugged and turned back to the tv. "That girl is so weird."

()

"So. . .?"

The old man blinked, the afternoon sun blinding him momentarily, and turned to stare up at the shadowy figure beside him. "So. . .what?"

"Have you been listening to a thing I've said?" Kagome demanded and angrily stamped her foot. Her patience was normally infinite with the old man but today, today seemed to have brought the answer to a problem that continued to eat away at her since the beginning of her times in the Feudal Era. How long had she wanted, how long had she wished for a way. . . How many nights, sleepless and weary, afraid that her friends would die-or leave her behind-before an answer came. To have a hint of it, even from somewhere as absurd as an anime show Souta liked, excited her to the point of nearly insufferable anticipation.

"Hush child. I heard you." He frowned at her impatience and waited until the Kagome he knew bubbled back to the surface. She sighed suddenly, an apologetic smile gracing her angelic features as she sat down on the bench nearest them and waited. She watched as he continued to think, his wrinkled brow furrowed deeper as he mentally flipped through the endless files in his mind's eye. She groaned when he stuck a finger in his ear, the thin tuffs of hair that protruded from his ear canal disappearing with the insertion of the digit. Kagome bowed her head, closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of nose with her index finger and thumb.

'Don't get angry. Don't get angry,' she chanted to herself while her reading glasses bobbed precariously on their perch. 'By Kami the little old dude drives me nuts sometimes.'

"Ah yes, I remember it now," he finally sang out. Kagome leapt up, her eyes shimmering in excitement as she waited for him to finish. "There is a legend, but I barely remember it. I don't know if it's true or not either, but if you want to look there's a book that has the story inside."

"What book?" Kagome nearly begged. "And where is it?"

"It's in the hallway at the house, I believe," Oji-san mused as he leaned against his broomstick. "It's inside that collective storybook. The one you used to read to Souta when you were children."

"Right. . ." Kagome sang to herself. She dashed back to the house, gratefully unaware as Oji-san removed his finger from his ear, gave it a studying glance, then sniffed it intently before wiping it on the side of his unhakamas and continuing with his work.

()

She'd found the book and read the entire contents as if it were water for the parched. Inside were legends, some of dragons, some of court magicians, and some entirely too fantastic to be possible, even in the magic drenched past of the era beyond the well. She read over the story when she found it, wondering to herself why the familiar fable never crossed her mind, and tucked the book under her arm. She left her glasses on a nearby table, ran from the house and threw open the well house door. It wasn't long until the bright blue lights surrounded her and the darkness that hovered over the future side of the well faded to bright, beautiful sunshine.

Kagome used the vines to climb out, then sat on the lip of the well and gazed upward. A gentle breeze fluttered by and she took a deep breath, her racing heart calming and her thoughts arranging themselves almost instantly. She glanced around and sighed, relieved when no screaming hanyou came barreling through the trees toward her. She was a week and a half early, and was without the ramen she promised, so for once she was happy to be by herself. She stood up and quickly made her way down the hill, her focus solely on the little village at the base of the steep hill. She ran pass numerous fields, taking a moment to wave hello to the farmers nearby, and entered the village itself.

"Kaede-baa-chan!" Kagome called out as she entered the elderly miko's hut. "Kaede, are you still-Oh! I'm sorry," she said, her voice softer than when she came in as she finally noticed the little old woman crouched in a nearby corner. She sat in front of her herb collection, a basket in her lap and an herb in her hands as she stared at her young protégée.

"Kagome child, what is it?" she asked as she set the basket aside and struggled to her feet. "What ails you so? What chases you?"

"I'm so sorry Kaede," Kagome replied, her hand clamped over her lips as she calmed herself and the old miko. "I was just in such a rush and I wanted to see you so badly. Where's Inuyasha and the others?"

"They are not here," Kaede said with a light sigh. "Inuyasha disappeared not moments after you left for home, and Sango, Shippou and Miroku traveled to a nearby village for supplies."

"Oh. Ok." 'So they're all gone,' Kagome said to herself as she sat down on the dusty wooden floor. 'Inuyasha's part worries me, but. . .maybe. . .' "Kaede, I have to ask you something."

"By all means child, ask," Kaede replied with a warm smile. "What has your aura in such turmoil?"

"There's something I heard back home," Kagome began to explain. "Something that. . .If I were to believe it, would be entirely too fantastic. I mean, could it be possible?"

"Could what be possible my child?" Kaede sat down and listened as Kagome began her tale, nodding every so often, and sighed when Kagome finished. "And your oji-san, does he believe it to be true?"

"I think so," Kagome shrugged. "But it's doubtful. I didn't remember hearing about the story until recently. Okaa-san used to read the story to Souta and I at bedtime."

"Well, my dear, I must say," Kaede began and shifted her weight off of her feet. "Of all the legends to remember that one brings a sense of nostalgia to this old miko's heart."

"What do you mean?"

"When my dear sister, Kikyou, and I were children, the village was protected by the another miko and a pair of traveling houshi, men much like Miroku-san. . .except for that wandering hand of his." Kaede tisked in disgust. "The pair were brothers and were incredibly gifted in the spiritual arts. Their sutras were the most powerful in all of the eastern region and their looks. . ." Kaede sighed wistfully. "Well, they were not exactly hard to look at either."

Kagome stilled, her eyes round with surprise as a phrase from her time slipped so effortlessly from the old miko's lips.

"Ah, but that is the past," Kaede said after a few moments of daydreaming. "And you wish to know the rest of the story. It has a tragic end, my dear."

"What is it?" Kagome pleaded. "I have to know."

"One of the brothers was killed, unfortunately," Kaede replied with a heavy sigh. "He was the older, more powerful, of the pair and was off by himself in Inuyasha's Forest. He was ambushed by a group of neko youkai and his brother was too late to save him. The poor dear was guilt ridden. He believed it to be his fault and wished to be more powerful to prevent it from happening again. It was then that he heard of the myth you speak of, only he believed it to be fact as well.

"He set off not too long afterward, leaving the village to the head miko and my sister, who was just beginning to grow within her spiritual powers. We heard much about him after that, tales of a great ningen warrior who's power seemed to grow with every battle, and we rejoiced and waited for him to return. Time passed, yet the houshi never did. We figured him to be dead, and the myth little more than that."

"But you think differently?" Kagome guessed and pressed on when Kaede sighed. "Why? What happened?"

Kaede turned to the fire, the orange and gold flames reflecting in her one good eye and frowned. "Back then I was told that it was a child's folly, my imagination at play. Now I believe it to be a dream that simply won't let me alone."

"What was it?" Kagome gently asked and noticed the old woman's regret. "Tell me what it was. I'll believe you."

Kaede seemed to think it over, then nodded and began her story. Kagome listened, her hand pressed firmly to her lips when she finally understood what exactly it was that happened to Kaede so many years ago. It all seemed too magnificent, too wondrous to be true despite knowing that Kaede's honor prevented her from telling a lie.

"Listen well child," Kaede finally said once her story was over. "If you choose to walk this path, know that you will have to walk it -alone-. There can be none to help you, none to support you. You must gain this on your own, no matter the cost. The way is dangerous and for a fledgling like yourself-"

"I don't know if I'll do it," Kagome assured her with a gentle pat on her shoulder. "It's just something I thought I would ask you about." She hugged Kaede and left the hut, unaware of Kaede's knowing stare as Kagome trudged up the hill to the well.

"Child, you know not of what lies ahead," she whispered to the emptiness around her.

(-)

Kagome sat, mahogany brown orbs fixed to the heavens above as the stars winked at her from below. The grassy clearing was empty of all life save hers and this emptiness reflected what she felt in her heart. How many times would she come out of battle unscathed while her friends were pocked with battle scars? Sango's beautiful arms, Miroku's strong back, even Inuyasha couldn't escape the marks that left their macabre offering on their skin, marks that were there because she couldn't protect herself.

And what did she have to show for her efforts in the Feudal Era? Scraped knees from her attempts to catch herself when she dove out of the way of her friends daring do, and hurt feelings when Inuyasha called her for what she really was.

"A coward, useless and weak," she mournfully whispered to the midnight breeze.

Kagome sighed, heavy eyelids drifting shut only to blink open at the sound of rustling nearby, and drooped in relief when Miroku emerged from the brush. He limped toward her unsteadily, his staff used more like a cane as he struggled to cross the field toward her. Kagome jumped up from her place on a rock in the center of the clearing and helped him to sit, her hands holding his offered arm as he lowered himself and gazed toward the sky.

"My thanks Kagome-sama," he sighed heavily and adjusted his robes. "What great fortune it is to have someone as beautiful as yourself tend to me."

"Yeah right," Kagome countered with a roll of her eyes, but laughed and smiled all the same. "What are you doing out here, huh?" she asked as she sat down beside him. "Sango will have a fit if the wound on your thigh opens up."

Miroku smiled mischievously, a sure sign of trouble in Kagome's book, and patted her shoulder affectionately. "You appeared to need the company more."

Kagome huffed miserably and shook her head. "No, what I need is to get stronger. Or else I'll never be a match for Kikyou."

"Of what use do you have to become a match for Kikyou-sama?" Miroku wondered aloud. "Of what I've observed, the two of you are vastly different."

"That's not what I meant, Miroku. I just want to become stronger, more useful. You guys get hurt all the time because of me and it's not exactly fair. I want to pull my own weight sometimes."

"But you do," Miroku assured her with a gentle smile. "Though you may not think so, I happen to think you're very brave. There isn't any danger you wouldn't put yourself in for those you care for and your anger is quite fearful."

"Yeah right," Kagome huffed despondently. "If you happen to be a chipmunk. There isn't a man alive that fears me."

"My dear, you may not be feared but you are loved, both by those around you and those that come to know you." Miroku replied back. "Think of Jininji, of Hojo-sama-"

"Please don't mention Hojo-sama," Kagome begged with a raised hand. "And that's not what I meant."

"Maybe so, but it proves that some people aren't meant to be feared." Miroku rose stiffly, a pained grimace marking his clean-shaven features as he waited to adjust. "You are and Kikyou was the Guardian of the Shikon no Tama, yet the both of you-as different as you are-are highly respected, so much so that I haven't had to use my 'exorcism' techniques in months." He smiled when she laughed, the happy spark returning to her eyes and aura. She hugged him gently, mindful of his many bruises, and gave him a brotherly kiss on his cheek.

"Thanks Miroku," Kagome said and patted his back. "But I don't exactly feel better."

"Well, one cannot say that I didn't try," Miroku shrugged helplessly. "Even so, try not to take everything Inuyasha says to heart. We both know that he can be an unthinking brute sometimes, but he really doesn't mean it." He turned and began to walk away when Kagome shouted his name.

"I was wondering," she began nervously. "What if. . .per say. . .I have a way to get stronger."

"You do?" Miroku asked and turned fully toward her. "Why Kagome-sama, that would be divine. What way would this be?"

"It would take a while," she offered instead of answering. "I'm not sure how long, but I know it would be a pretty long time."

"Well that would be fine," Miroku nodded back. "If you think you can do it then by all means go for it. I'm sure Sango-sama and the others would feel the same and would be more than happy to help. Now, if you'll excuse me." He ambled toward camp, the end of his staff digging shallow holes into the soft earth beneath his feet. He glanced over his shoulder once he reached the end of the clearing and smiled.

"Don't be long. Dinner should be ready soon and if we don't hurry Inuyasha will eat it all."

Kagome laughed, nodded and ran to catch up, her arm linking with his once she reached his side. "Well come on then," she giggled as they picked their way through the forest. "Let's go save our dinner."

(End Chapter)

SF: I'm Baaaaaaaackk! Muhahahahaha!

Inu-chan: Crack is whack, as the bird would say.

Miroku: Is it just me, or has she gotten weirder since she got married?

Shippou: Think it will get any worse?

(Men of the Inu cast think it over, then shudder)

Kagome: I think she's happy. You guys should lay off.

Inu-chan: She's too happy. And what's with this thing? (picks up a teddy bear wearing army dress uniform)

Sango: Uh oh. . .

ZAP!!

SF: (snatching bear from Inu's charred body) Hands off my man dog boy!

Inu-chan :cough

SF: (petting bear) It's ok baby. Did he hurt you? Aw, poor baby.

Kagome: (while SF cuddles teddy) SF cant have her actual husband on stage wish you could've seen her face when she typed that so she has a teddy bear to represent him.

Silver: And it's driving us nuts.

Sango: That too.


	2. Part Two: The Method

**Author's Ramblings**: I was asked (by my know-it-all cousin) why I decided to start this fic instead of finishing the ones I already have. I told him to mind his business and leave me alone (your wedding cake falling apart on you will make you grouchy) but the truth is that I needed to start this fic. I was under a lot of stress when I started this, so this was helping me blow off some steam. . .before I maimed someone. Add to that the fact that I kinda don't know which one to start on next. Second Chance took so long that the inspiration for everything else sort of jumbled around, sort of like a file cabinet falling over. Hopefully I will know which one to pick back up when the third chapter for this is posted. . .

Though a little help from you guys is always appreciated. ; )

_Back when I was but a child and Kikyou was your age, our village was protected by the Lady Miko and a pair of houshi. The houshi were brothers, twins, and orphans raised at a nearby temple. When the waves of oni became too much for our Lady, the houshi brothers would come down from the western mountains to her aid. Miroku-san reminds me of the pair, with the same dark eyes and devilish smiles. _

_The oldest brother was more responsible. Frequently he meditated in the woods to the south of the village. He was quiet, soft spoken and respectful to our Lady._

_The younger brother was rambunctious, the ladies' man of the pair. His reki was strong, much stronger than his brother, yet he chose to spend his days doing more. . .entertaining activates._

_As I said before, the pair were beloved of our village yet as much as we loved them, it paled in comparison to how much they loved each other. . ._

_That is why , when the eldest was slaughtered by a group of minor youkai, none were more devastated than the brother left behind. . ._

Part Two: The Method

She stared into the dank musty depths of the well, the light from the cracks in the wooden walls of the well house flickering pinpoints that barely touched the darkness surrounding her. Oh her back was a new bookbag, her old, brightly hued companion replaced by a dark green hiking pack. Her sleeping bag was rolled up on top of it and inside, other than a snow white version of her pack, were various supplies she would need on her journey, including a thick, in depth study on various herbs and plants that was fully illustrated and widely extensive on practical uses. On the sides of the bookbag were solar panels and little plugs that were useful for charging her mp3 player, the only piece of technology chosen to take with her.

Inside the little mp3 player were her favorite songs, pictures of her family (both past and present) and a video, one that she'd made of Inuyasha and the others one night after they settled into camp. She felt she. . .needed that little piece of tech, the only thing small enough to not be a big deal if it were lost in this era, yet enough for her to keep her connection to the friends and family she was leaving behind. She knew the risks she was taking and had attempted to make every precaution. . .but she knew that there was a chance. . .

A chance that she would never see her friends and family again.

Kagome glanced over her shoulder and smiled, tears in her steel brown eyes as she waved. Her mother waved back, struggling with tears of her own as she, Kagome's grandfather and Souta stood in the threshold of the well house door. "You will be careful, won't you?"

"Yes Mama. I will."

"I-" Kagome's mother stepped forward then backed away, her hand fisted against her lower lip as she struggled not to cry. Her baby was leaving, this time to roam the dangers of the Feudal Era on her own without the friends that she depended on.

'She's so brave,' she said to herself as Kagome stood up and adjusted the pack on her back. She was dressed so differently, her school uniform retired to hang from a hook on the back of her bedroom door. Now she wore black wide legged pants and a fitted shirt. She had on tennis shoes now, but there were an extra set of clothes, a coat and a pair of all weather boots deep within that pack. With her hair pulled back and a pair of fingerless gloves on her fingers (Kagome thought it made her look tough) she looked less like her baby and more. . .

'More like a. . .a warrior,' Kagome's mother said with a soft smile. 'My baby's seventeen now, and responsible for saving the world. . .all by herself.'

"You'll get my school work for me, right?"

Mrs. Higurashi blinked, then smiled and nodded. "Yes dear, I'll have it here when you return."

"Good." Kagome inhaled deeply, her bow in her hands and her quiver attached to her upper thigh, and exhaled as she stared into the depths of the well. "Here we go," she said to herself as she stepped up to the lip of the well. "No more running or hiding behind Inuyasha. No more feeling useless and alone. No more trembling behind the skirts of my friends while they get hurt." She turned around, her eyes swimming as she took one last glance at her family, and allowed herself to fall backward into the well.

(I)

Kagome walked along the dusty path, the way bare of grass and lit by the spotty afternoon sunlight that shone down from between the branches of the trees that bordered the dirt way. Little animals stopped to watch the miko as she walked, their beady little eyes curious as she walked and read from the small diary in her hands. Since learning about the legend and the likely hood that it could be fact, she wracked her brain with a plan of action. Of course she wanted to get stronger as fast as possible, but she didn't want to go on a killing spree, killing youkai at random. Unlike most miko of the Feudal Era, she knew that the species of the creature didn't make them evil.

Add to that the possibility that she could come across a youkai stronger than her and without backup she would have to be extremely, **EXTREMELY** careful with her chosen enemies. So far so good, as it had been three weeks since she started her journey and her only encounters were with (for some odd reason) frog youkai on power trips.

Weird. . .

'Let's see,' Kagome said to herself as she turned the page. 'From what I'm understanding, I've killed at least five youkai since I came to the Feudal Era. That means I have-' She calculated quickly, then groaned miserably.

"I have at least nine hundred ninety one to go. Great. Bleh." She frowned and stuck out her tongue. "This is going to take foreve-"

"AHHHHHHH!" a scream sounded from somewhere deep in the forest. "Someone help! Save us!"

Kagome turned and ran toward the sound, her footfalls heavy as she picked her way through the foliage. She burst from the trees into the clearing and her mouth fell open, her eyes wide as she stared up in horrified awe at the monstrous oni that towered above her from the opposite edge of the glade. It's power signal was massive, a darkness that oozed and popped against her skin like boiling mud. It's skin was a dark purple, blotched with darker spots that appeared to be dried blood and gore. The horn on it's head was long and thin, like a unicorn's would be, and stained an unhealthy yellow with crimson dripping from the tip.

It's talons were long, it's mouth shaped in a vicious canine snarl and it's eyes were piercing little beads of crystal blue. Kagome shuddered, then gagged as her sudden intake of breath brought the stench of death, dried blood and excrement. "Oh my God," Kagome whispered to herself as she struggled not to heave. "This thing reeks!"

"Not like my scent little onna?"

Kagome looked up and found startlingly beautiful crystal orbs glaring at her, it's snout a misshapen smirk as it shook the viscid remains of its latest victim from its inch long talons and racked them over the grass. "Like I your scent much. Tasty you will be."

"Oh come on," Kagome groaned and pulled her bow from her back. "Why does every oni I come across either want to eat me, rape me or rape me then eat me? Do you guys have a meeting on what to say?"

The oni laughed, it's powerful thighs twitching sporadically against the strain of supporting it's massive upper half. Kagome quickly nocked an arrow and fired, the tip charged with reiki before it pierced through the air toward her target. The arrow struck the oni's chest and it roared, outraged and in pain, before it returned it's attentions to her.

It pounced, and Kagome jumped back and away instantly, her body on high alert as the oni chased her around the clearing. She barely ducked its claws but not the sweep of his hand as it caught the side of her hip and batted her across the clearing. Kagome flew with a scream to the other side and was silenced when the hard trunk of an unforgiving tree met her back. She slumped over, lights dancing in her vision as she slowly fell to the blood soaked grass beneath her.

Her back felt like it was on fire, the pain arching like dark ballerinas from nerve ending to nerve ending as it shot down her arms and legs. Kagome groaned and struggled to sit up, a frown set on her bubble-gum pink lips when the oni began to laugh.

"Little match for me you are," it rumbled from above her. It sank it's claws into the cotton fabric of her dark shirt and plucked her body off of the ground as if she weighted little more than lint. "Little fight you'll put up now. Kongol will enjoy himself, then I will eat your jewel shards."

The oni shook her fiercely and laughed when she fell again, this time with the ripped remains of her shirt dangling from its claws. Kagome cried out in agony, the pain she was already feeling flaring to new life as dirt clouds kicked up around her from the force of her landing.

'Why,' she asked herself as the oni ripped away her pants and tossed them toward the forest. 'Why can't I protect myself? Why aren't I better than this?! I'm so tired of not being able to protect myself! I. . .I don't want to die like this!'

The oni grabbed her arm seconds before it began to blaze. Licking from underneath Kagome's pale skin were lavender swirls of fire, with indigo and rose ripples that immediately engulfed the oni. It shrieked in agony and attempted to fling her aside but her tiny hands latched hold of the oni gigantic fingers and refused to let go.

The pain vanished so suddenly that it left Kagome confused but grateful as her eyes finally opened. The flames leaped gleefully along the oni's purifying flesh and the sickening odor of burning flesh and fecal matter thickened in the hot, stifling atmosphere. The oni screamed one final time before exploding, it's innards streaking across the clearing to transform it into a crimson tribute of Hell. Kagome fell back to earth, this time landing on her feet, and closed her eyes as what remained solid fell back to the ground in fat, putrid plops.

Kagome opened her eyes, pushed her hair out of her face and looked around her. "Wow," she breathed in disbelief. "What happened. . .and why is the world so red?" She blinked rapidly but her attempts to clear her rose hued view of the world seemed to be in vain. She raised her hand and wiped at her eyes, first her left before starting on her right. Her left eye cleared instantly and Kagome continued to gaze around as she struggled to clean her remaining eye.

Once both were clear she blinked and looked around, her fingers splayed across her open mouth as the objects around her blurred and wavered. She squinted and blinked but nothing seemed to return her sight back to what it was before the fight. 'Gah,' she panicked as she began to remove her contact lenses. 'What happened? Did something tear when I hit that tree?!'

But her fears of going blind were forgotten when the first contact came out. It slipped from her still fingers and lost itself in the grass, alone until a second landed beside it.

The world without her contacts was so sharp, sharper than she'd ever seen with her glasses or her contacts. Colors were more vivid and everything around her so in focus that for a moment Kagome thought she was hallucinating. 'Oh wow,' she said as she turned in place. The sharp outlines of the leaves high above her, the teeny ants that scuttled busily between the thin cracks in the bark of the trees, and the ripples in the fur of a lone rabbit several yards away; nothing was missed by her suddenly improved vision.

"But how," Kagome wondered aloud. "How did this happen? I've always needed glasses, always. What happ-" She glanced down at her hands. A dawn of understanding shone on her crimson drenched features as she studied her hands and the blood that dripped from her fingertips. Her nails, her knuckles, even her wrists were stained with the life force of the rogue oni and Kagome, though bothered by the sight, was awestruck as well and feeling as if she were just on the cusp of understanding something important.

"Its the blood, not the killing that makes you," she realized. "But what would happen if I washed it off? Would I still be like this?" She picked up her backpack and her bow and retraced her steps back to the hot spring she visited earlier that morning. She tromped along steadily, her usual bashfulness at being reduced to a sports bra and a pair of panties strangely absent as she made her way through the woods. When she spotted the springs she dropped her things and immediately immersed herself in the warm, soothing waters. She rubbed furiously at her hair and skin, then shook her head and rose from the depths of the water.

Kagome opened her eyes hesitantly, first the right before the left sprang open and she let loose a happy, high-pitched giggle. "I can still see!" she cheered to the woods surrounding her. "I can SEE!" She slapped the water triumphantly and laughed again.

"Its not the youkai, it's the blood! I've been doing this wrong the whole time!"

(II)

"Have you done something to upset her, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha glared up at the houshi, golden orbs narrowed in aggravation as his claws gouged deep score marks in the soft, rich farmland soil.

"Hell no," Inuyasha snorted and growled at the disbelieving look in the houshi's eyes. "I don't give a damn if you believe me. When Kagome left she was fine! Now I can't find her and her mom doesn't know where she went!"

"Inuyasha's right!" Shippou chirped up from between Kirara's shoulder blades. "Kagome promised Inuyasha ramen if he let her leave and even Inuyasha's not stupid enough to say something to jeopardize that." Sango and Miroku nodded at the wisdom of the kit's statement and turned when Inuyasha sighed. They found him gazing over his shoulder at the well, his amber eyes distant as he remained in his dog-inspired place of rest.

'I just don't get it,' Inuyasha said to himself as his gazed into the well's darkness. 'Why? Why would she leave without us? Is she trying to get herself killed?'

Kagome's mother's greeting on the other side was less than expected. She was always happy to see him ('Even a worthless hanyou like me') but she seemed stressed, more stressed than he remembered the woman being in Kagome's three years of passing through the well. She still managed to give him a smile and a huge bag of ramen before telling him the worst: That Kagome wasn't there and hadn't been in the present era for some time.

Of course he freaked out and demanded to know where Kagome was, but Mrs. Higurashi merely shrugged, smiled and sent him along his way. It was Souta who filled him in on what he could and let him know that Kagome had gone on some mission in the past. The family hadn't seen the teenager in quite some time but a note found by the well told the family that she was still ok and well on her way to finding what she was looking for. What she was looking for Souta hadn't a clue, only that, "Onee-chan wants to get stronger. She says she's tired of being a sissy. . .or something like that. I was playing BioShock when she was talking about it. That game is so cool Inuyasha! You'd like it!"

"What does she need to be stronger for?" Inuyasha complained and shot a fearsome glare back at the well. "I'm the only one that does any real fightin' anyway!"

"She might want to help out," Sango offered and shrugged when his piercing gaze fell on her. "What? You know Kagome -"

'But what's she looking for?' Inuyasha wondered as he rose up and dusted the grass from the backs of his thighs. He gazed into the sky, at white fluffy clouds that drifted lazily across the pale blue sky, and at the sunlight as it streamed through the fading green leaves of the trees above him. 'Why didn't she want us to go along?'

"So what are we gonna do Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha blinked and gazed out of the corner of his eye. The others stood waiting, watching as their self-proclaimed leader seemed to sink into himself.

"I don't know what happened on Kagome's side," Miroku whispered to Sango when Inuyasha turned and began to walk away. "But I don't have a good feeling about it and neither does Inuyasha."

"You can't blame him for being worried though," Shippou chirped. "This is their first time being separated. I've known them the longest and I've never known them to be apart for so long."

"I think we should leave Kagome-san to her busines-"

"Finish that thought and die, Miroku," Inuyasha snarled in the holy servant's face. "Just leave Kagome by herself huh? Well fuck that! I'm going after her, and when I catch up to her I'm gonna-" He paused mid threat, his nose tipped in the air as something familiar caught his attention. He leaped into the sturdy arms of the tree above him, then sprinted towards the scent. Miroku and the others followed quickly, their curiosity cast aside as Inuyasha's blazing form darted along ahead of them.

They arrived at the village just as a group of traveling merchants passed through the village gate. They reeked of oni, sweat and fear but deep underneath these scents, nearly erased by the others, was the unique signature of reiki. It was strong, pure, and didn't have the same bland scent as most pure energy. This energy felt alive, free and, out of the twenty people that stood around the small wooden supply wagon, it was a small pregnant woman sitting on a tired looking horse that the reiki seemed to cling to like a second skin.

"Is this Kyoto Village, where the miko Kaede resides?" one of the merchants, an elderly man with a large, misshapen purple cap, inquired as Sango and Miroku slowed to a stop.

"Yes, it is," Sango replied while Miroku nodded and stooped over to catch his breath.

"Welcome, travelers," Miroku finally wheezed. "How do you know our beloved miko?"

"And why do you smell like death warmed over," Shippou groaned and covered his nose with his paw.

"Shippou, how rude!" Sango admonished with a shake of her finger. "Don't say things lik-"

"Rude my ass," Inuyasha growled angrily. "I was about to ask the same thing. Hey you!" He grasped the old man by the front of his haori and hefted him into the air with one hand. "What the hell happened to ya, huh?"

Miroku shook his head in disappointment, his eyes closed as if he were weary with the whole thing, then raised the end of his staff high into the air. He loosened his grip and it fell with a slight whistle, the rings jingling rather loudly when they finally clunked the hanyou on top of the head.

"OW!! Damn it Miroku!" Inuyasha snarled as he whirled on the man. The merchant leader fell to the ground without complaint and scrambled back toward the wagon in the center of the group. The villagers had crowded around them at this point, everyone knowing by experience that whenever the hanyou yelled it was bound to be entertaining.

"What was that for?"

"You know what that was for," Miroku replied as he swept the staff through the air. "Please remember your manners. Ah," he said and bowed slightly as Kaede hobbled toward him. "Kaede-sama, the merchant here asked for you by name."

"Oh?" Kaede responded with surprise. "Whatever for?"

"I'm not sure," Sango shrugged. "But I think he was about to tell us." Everyone turned expectantly toward the merchant chief, who by now had gotten over his frightening experience with Inuyasha.

"We're only traveling merchants during the summer you see," the elderly man said after an attempt to straighten out his cap. "We travel far, even to the mainland, in order to trade and sell our wares. Seeing as how fall is almost upon us we decided two lunar cycles ago to head back home."

"Two months," Shippou whispered into Sango's ear.

"I know that," was her hushed answer back. "Why'd you tell me that, Shippou?"

"Oh, sorry," he apologized and blushed. "I'm so used to telling Kagome that. It just kinda. . .slipped out."

Inuyasha growled at them, his eyes narrowed in warning before turning back to the merchant. Sango and Shippou rolled their eyes but did as he "suggested" and paid attention.

"We were traveling from the north, coming back to our little settling place, when cat youkai ambushed us. My daughter Yori was already ill-" he gestured toward the woman sitting on the horse "-so we tried to appease the youkai in an attempt to get them to let us go. They demanded our children, every last one of them, and in turn they would leave us alone. We would not think of such an option, so the youkai determined to eat all of us.

"They had already killed three of our men when the strangest thing happen-"

"It was a miko!" a little girl chirped as she ran towards Kaede. "She appeared out of nowhere, like a tenshi or a kami! She-"

"Hush, child," the girl's mother shushed and placed a finger over her lips. "Allow Renji-san to explain everything."

"Oh, but Mama-"

"Shush!"

The girl pouted, but sent Kaede an apologetic nod and allowed her mother to drag her away from the adults.

"As the child said," the old man, Renji, began after clearing his throat. "A young woman appeared in the center of our group. She was beautiful, with long, dark hair that she kept back and the most heavenly face." The younger men behind him mumbled in agreement, their faces flushed with the memory, and gave each other cheeky grins.

"OK damn it," Inuyasha snapped irritably. He'd had enough of this lustful hero worship and just wanted to know what happened. "Get on with it you old goat!!"

"Inuyasha!"

"She killed them!" the little girl from before chirped again. "She had this arrow that glowed and when it hit the first one, it exploded and became ash-"

"Ami."

"Soon they all were all dead and ashes fell down like pretty snow. She got a little blood on her, but she didn't seem to mind it too much-"

"Ami. . ."

"And the best part was when she took out this mysterious little box and healed Yori-chan!"

"Ami!!"

"Uh-oh," the child muttered dejectedly. "I think I'm in trouble."

"The miko healed her?" Kaede asked and gestured toward the woman on the horse. "How?"

"I fell," the young woman spoke up and blushed when everyone turned to her. "Before we left the mainland, I slipped on sharp rocks and fell into some mud. For days it just itched, then it turned red and began to fester. That's when the fever and pain began.

"But when the neko were dead the miko turned to me. It was like she could smell the sickness oozing from my wound. She opened this strange pack-"

"It shone on the sides!" little Ami chimed in again. "Like little square mirrors that were painted black! Why would someone want so many black mirrors, Mama?"

"And pulled out a strange white box," Yori continued while Ami and her mother argued. "It was small, white, and smooth, with a cross in the center painted red."

"A red cross you say?" Miroku said as he and Sango exchanged glances. "And the box, was it filled with strange medicines and strips of thin, yet supple cloth?"

"Yes," Renji nodded. "Are you familiar with her?"

"And the miko herself," Sango continued as Shippou and Inuyasha began to put the pieces together. "Did she wear a golden chain, one with a clear glass vial with tiny slivers of a pink jewel around her neck?"

"Yes, yes she did," Yori replied. "She said it was the reason she couldn't stay with us. She nursed my leg and told us to come here so Kaede-sama can look at it."

"Did she say anything else?" Inuyasha demanded heatedly. He growled when she was slow to answer and loudly yipped when Sango whacked him with her boomerang afterward.

"Um, the m-miko whispered s-something to my b-b-b-" Yori stammered, her skin frightfully white as Inuyasha continued to complain. Sango whacked him again and all was quiet, the color returning to the pregnant woman's face as Renji began to speak for her.

"The miko blessed the child inside and gave me this," he passed Sango a sheet of notebook paper. "I watched her write with a strange pen on a scroll made of this odd, white material."

Sango mouthed the list of things to herself before passing it back to the merchant. "It's a list of things she should eat," Sango told Miroku and Shippou. "Fruit, vegetables, and meats, what kinds and how many she should try to eat in a day."

"Ah," Miroku nodded sagely. "That was most wise of Kagome. Have you followed the list?"

"Yes houshi-sama," Renji nodded while Yori smiled and rubbed her large belly. "And since then things with Yori have been wonderful. She would be sick frequently, but she has been the picture of health since following the list."

"The baby's calmer now, too," Yori replied gratefully. "I'm thankful for that."

"Well then," Kaede sighed as she approached Yori. "I wish to see this injury."

"Of course."

Kaede began to lead Yori's horse toward her hut, where she and the young woman would be able to talk in quiet while Kaede checked Yori's health. Sango walked up to Renji and waited until Yori was inside to ask, "The miko Renji-san, did she say anything before she left?"

"Such as?"

"Where she might be going, perhaps," Miroku offered helpfully. "Or where she might have been? We're her friends and we desperately need to find her."

"Well. . . no," Renji shook his head. "No, the miko directed us here and continued toward the north. She did something strange though, something that frightened me when I first saw her do it."

"What was it?" Miroku asked and frowned when the poor old fellow paled. "Come now, you can tell us. What did she do?"

"I-I think she thought we were already gone," Renji began, and his hands began to tremble. "I circled back to thank her again when I f-found her with what looked like a cup, except it was a light, light red and shiny like a mirror. She went to each of the seven neko youkai-"

"Seven?!" Shippou gasped in amazement. "Kagome killed seven youkai, all by herself?!"

"She let their blood fall into the cup and when she finally filled it. . .she poured it over her head."

"What?!" Sango and Shippou shot back.

"You must be mistaken sir," Miroku replied with an appeasing smile. "No miko, no less Kagome, would-"

"But she did," Renji insisted feverishly. "I swear it on my life, she poured the blood of those foul beasts over her pure skin and clothes!"

"But," Shippou said back. "Why would she do that?"

"She spoke a number too," Renji told them. "Then picked up her things and went on her way."

"A number. . ." Miroku fell silent and turned to his inner thoughts. He remembered something his master said long ago, something about youkai blood and a count. . .and what would happen if the right number was ever reached.

"Great Kami-sama!"

"What?" Sango asked aloud. "What is it Miroku?"

"The miko," Miroku asked and, in an unexpected act of furious desperation, grasped the older man by his collar and jerked him forward. "What number did she speak? It's important! What number did she speak?!"

"Th-the number two hundred twenty six!" Renji stuttered fitfully as Sango and Shippou tried to pry him free. "Please houshi-sama! It was the number two hundred twenty six!"

(III)

He did not know when it began, but by the time he noticed it was already too late.

It started innocently enough, with his first sighting of the girl when Jaken proposed his insane idea of gaining the Tetsusagia from his Great Father's grave. He remembered how odd she seemed, clinging to the unworthy hanyou like a second skin, fear pouring from her pure scent in strangling torrents. Yet she still managed to shriek her offense at him and his deductions of her. As time went on her fear diminished, leaving foolish determination behind.

She honestly believed herself to be worth the same as Inuyasha, and that Inuyasha in turn was worth the same, if not more, than the Great Taiyoukai himself.

He huffed, sunlit orbs narrowed slightly at the darkening horizon. Even now, years after their first encounter, her audacity offended him on the highest levels. Her ineptitude was comical at best but her will. . .

'Her will. . .'

He frowned, displeased, and turned away from the sky and the cliff face, his stride strong and proud as his pristine figure merged with the darkness of a nearby forest. He remained in his thoughts, relying on his senses to find the way back to camp where a small child and an even smaller toad sat bickering in the rapidly fading twilight.

'Never has this Sesshoumaru witnessed such foolishness.'

She would become stronger over the years, much to his disbelief and amazement. He was a witness to the girl-no, woman-child's true power, the intensity of the reki that could bubble through the surface of her innocence and inexperience.

'She would become quite the force if she were only trained properly, . . .'

He mentally tossed those thoughts aside, not even stopping to wonder why he even cared as his foot landed on a dry twig on the outskirts of camp. The bickering ceased instantly and both toad and girl turned to him with welcome smiles and bows.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, this heathen never ceases to press on your loyal servant!" Jaken croaked in offense. "She ran off, just as you forbade her, to amuse herself in a nearby field of useless weeds!"

"Is this true Rin?"

Her head drooped, her ponytail swaying slightly from the motion, and nodded. "Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama. I did leave camp but it was only for these." She held out a handful of flowers and herbs, some with an odor so repugnant even Sesshoumaru wrinkled his nose in distaste. "They're flowers that Kagome-san showed to me a long time ago. This one-" she plucked free a particularly offensive one and held it out for Sesshoumaru's inspection. "She said to dry and ground down into a paste in case I scrape my knees. She said that this will keep them from becoming infected."

"I see. . ."

Rin looked up at him hopefully, reading the taiyoukai's steady gaze for some time before dropping her head again. "But I know I am still wrong. I'm sorry Sesshoumaru-sama. It won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't. As for the 'flowers'. . ."

"I will take them further into the forest so they can dry." She scampered away quickly, her orange and black yukata little more than a blur as she disappeared into the forest. One look downward sent Jaken following after, though his progress was more flight than feet as a well placed boot sent him on his way.

His mirth at the flying frog was short lived as curiosity took it's place. 'Hn,' he said to himself as Jaken's landing, some couple of yards away, made his left ear twitch slightly. 'Though it should not surprise me that Inuyasha's onna would share that little bit of information with my ward.' He thought back to the last time he encountered the miko, the fierceness in her eyes as she protected Rin from So'unga's madness. He looked over her then but now something inside the youkai locked onto the girl. It was simple really, his decision, and he quickly rose from the tree stump. His footsteps were quick, his mind centered as he followed the sounds of his ward and retainer.

He would answer this question named Kagome, and he would do it by learning from the enigma herself.

(IV)

The northern waters were cold, bone chillingly so, with slabs of ice that floated lazily on the water's surface. Sometimes these slabs would freeze together, making a large blockade of sorts that sailors had to chip a path through before their ships could reach the frozen island north of the main islands of Japan.

Kagome stood quietly on the ship's bow, her attention on the approaching horizon as the crew of the whaling ship sang lonely songs of life at sea. Songs of bravery, of men lost at sea never to see their families again, and of ships that sank into the icy abyss were lost to her ears, though she heard them well enough.

A shrill call shattered her train of though and she looked up, eyes that were once a deep chocolate brown now shimmering green-hazel, quickly focused on the birds that flew high overhead. Their beady black eyes scanned the waters for the hunt and Kagome felt a sort of kinship with them. She had not seen her friends, those in the Feudal Era and those in her own time, in nearly six months, yet she felt less inclined to seek them out as she struggled toward her goal.

She was at the halfway mark and already she could feel the benefits singing in her blood. Her vision was twenty times better than it used to be and she was stronger, faster and she had more control over her reki and it's uses. Experiments with it gave her new ways to use it, using such common objects such as stones and sticks to wreak havoc on the evil youkai she targeted. Once she would have been dismayed and disgusted at the amount of carnage she was now capable of, her stomach lurching unsteadily whenever Inuyasha or the others would eviscerate an enemy. Now her only thought was the count, the power, and reaching her goal.

'Only 500 more to go,' she whispered to herself. 'And on this island there is rumor of at least 30 youkai that have gone rogue.'

"Lady Miko?"

Kagome blinked out of her musings and turned to the sailor, her gaze as cool as the biting wind as she gave him her full attention. He gulped involuntarily and hurried with his news, his desire to be near the tiny onna lessening with each second in her company. "W-we will arrive at the island in a few hours. Perhaps you would like to rest b-b-before we dock?"

"Hm," she hummed softly, then turned back toward the sea. The sailor scurried away, her disinterest in him his dismissal papers as he hurried back to the safety of his other crewmen. The miko was beautiful, heartbreakingly so, with her pale skin and oddly hued eyes, but this sailor was old enough to know that even the most beautiful flower could have thorns waiting to pierce through your skin.

Kagome knew the other crewmen were afraid of her and at one time that would have bothered her. Deep inside her human heart still judged her actions but the changed blood seemed to muffle its influence. She lifted her head at the cry of the lookout man, her dark hair shifting over her white jacket shoulder. She could just make out the tiny sliver of land that slowly approached them and she sighed. 'Thirty oni,' she reminded herself. 'Slay those oni, then back to Nippon itself. This should be simple. . .'

(V)

They walked slowly, plodded really since earlier rains had turned solid dirt into thick swampy mud patches. The group was splattered in mud and gore from a recent dealing with a youkai they thought had a jewel shard. Miroku had become their 'shard detector' since he once hunted them before joining Inuyasha and Kagome. He couldn't sense the shards well enough to track them but he could recognize their power signature when they were close to one. . .

Which left them plodding along with no destination, waiting for the exhausted houshi to sense something, anything that resembled a shard.

"I'm tired Inuyasha," Shippou whined from his place on Kirara's shoulders. "Can't we take a break?"

"I think we should," Sango sighed wearily. "Miroku hasn't caught anything all day. " She gave the houshi an apologetic smile. "No offense Mirokj-sama, but you're not as good as Kagome at this."

"I know," he exhaled loudly. "I would never have guessed how hard it was to do this. Kagome surely deserves some credit."

"Kagome deserves to have her ass kicked."

The group gave the hanyou a weary glance, knowing without words that, though they all worried, Inuyasha took Kagome's leaving felt like defection, and as such Inuyasha took it personally. He couldn't understand what he did wrong, what he said to piss her off enough for her to leave. He wanted her **back, **more than he wanted the Shikon no Tama, to beat every youkai part out of Naraku, even more than he wanted to use his brother's pelt as his own personal toilet. Inuyasha was scared for the little miko from another time and the longer it took the group to find her the more bearish and impossible he became.

"Inuyasha, be nice!" Shippou scolded angrily. "Everybody else is worried about Kagome! Why do you have to be such a jerk about it!"

"Look you little run-"

Inuyasha paused mid grasp, his nose in the air as the odor of mud, coming rain and wet, rotting vegetation was suddenly shoved aside his one track mind. Winter was coming, the scent of mint, cold and acid quick on the wind. Inuyasha snarled viciously and turned, Shippou forgotten as he hurriedly unsheathed Tetsusiaga. The blade transformed instantly, becoming the fabled death bringer in his clawed hands as he pointed it's deadly tip toward the source of his displeasure.

"Your manners need improvement, hanyou," Sesshoumaru greeted coldly. Gold clashed with amber momentarily, then shifted when Sesshoumaru glanced about the group. "It would seem you are missing someone."

"Shut the fuck up Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha snapped. "Nobody asked your ass, and nobody asked for you either!"

"Excuse me, Sesshoumaru-sama," Miroku interrupted as he stepped between the two youkai. "We are missing a member. Have you heard anything as to her whereabouts?"

"As if that pompous ass would give one flying fuck about a puny ningen," Inuyasha groused irritably. "Hell, he probably doesn't even know her name."

Miroku sighed to himself and silently asked the kami for patience. He felt the true meaning of one of Kagome's odd futuristic saying, though the rocks were one hanyou incapable of saying anything without liberally sprinkled profanity, and a full blooded youkai with a superiority complex.

"We are having difficulty finding the jewel shards without her-"

"We wouldn't be if you would just let me ask Kikyo-"

"NO!" Sango and Shippou both shouted at him. "Kagome would be hurt if she came back and found Kikyou here with us."

"Well she wasn't thinking about that when she left!" Inuyasha shot back.

"We don't know what she was thinking about?!" Sango replied and Shippou added, "I don't blame her for leaving! You're always telling her that she's so weak, so scared of everything! She can't help that she's a girl Inuyasha! Oh, no offense Sango-chan."

Miroku fell silent, his earlier prayer for patience mentally repeated as the others of his group argued. Sesshoumaru seemed forgotten by everyone but the houshi, who now watched the taiyoukai stand silently, in the only patch of decent grass in the entire ruined field, and frown slightly at the little group.

"Kagome has been gone for quite some time," Miroku explained while the other's kept arguing. "It has put quite the strain on the rest of us."

"Hn."

'Right,' Miroku said to himself. "If you do see her, Sesshoumaru-sama, will you convince her to turn back to us. I'm afraid that. . .she is attempting something dangerous."

Sesshoumaru turned to him, his thoughts his own as his steel like gaze pierced into the holy man. "This something dangerous. . ."

"Um," Miroku replied once he realized that the taiyoukai meant for him to explain. "I can't speak of my reasons for this, but I believe someone has told her the One Thousand legend. Surely you know of the one I speak of." He continued at Sesshoumaru's glare. "A villager that came in contact with her spoke of a number. At the time I didn't understand, but after a little research I believe what she is attempting is-"

"Impossible," the taiyoukai finished for him. "Utter foolishness spread through humanity like a disease."

"That may be true but Kagome may believe it. If so she could be putting herself in harm's way. Should anything happen to her then it happens to us all. Kagome's the only way to purify the Sacred Jewel and destroy Naraku."

Miroku frowned when Sesshoumaru merely turned and disappeared without a word. 'Must have insulted him,' he determined and turned back to his companions. "Hey Sango!" he called and quickly waded his way through the mud. "I don't think Hirakotsu will fit there!"

(VI)

The courtyard was stately and large, with large pavestones swept clear of dirt and debris. The walls surrounding the castle complex were solid, well built and were solid defense against danger

'That,' Kagome said to herself as she glanced toward the guard tower overhead. 'didn't save them.' She walked through the gates unhindered, the tower and the mutilated body of the dangling guard none of her concern. The sky above, gray and choked, continued to spit out tiny slivers of ice. Kagome wasn't worried about the stones icing over. Her footfalls were sure partly because of the boots from her time. She embraced the weather, her white winter suit insulating her from the biting wind and freezing rain.

She stood quietly, listening with her ears and her sensing with her reki for any survivors, anyone who might be worth saving, before releasing a pent up breath. "I'm too late."

She picked up a nearby stick and shook it once, watching as it burst into flames before approaching the castle doors. She flung the doors open and tossed the torch inside, then swiftly closed them as the stench of death and decay assaulted her nose. She was more than too late, if the stench were to serve as proof. The oni were long gone, the castle occupants dead for some weeks before her arrival. Kagome turned and descended the stairs, her determination to catch them no less diminished as she prepared to leave.

She stopped at a small whimpering, then raised her bow, and demanded, "Come out! Show yourself!"

The world paused and Kagome searched again for any signs of life. She found a weak youki signature coming from a nearby case of barrels. She used an arrow to rap on the side of one of the wooden caskets, wondering to herself how the group of oni missed it. "I said come out."

Ears, cute, round and furry, were the first to poke out of the smallest barrel before little paws boosted the face of a beautiful white bear into her field of vision. Its black eyes were huge and scared and it trembled violently inside its hiding place. She returned the arrow to it's case and held out her hand. "Come on," she coaxed softly. "They've gone. It's safe now."

It sniffed around, then gave a sad whine and clambered out of the barrel. Kagome stood by as it shimmied down, her gaze instantly fixed on an angry gash along the bear's furry white side. "Here," she said as she firmly grasped the bear by the back of the neck. "Let me see." She gently inspected the wound, the bear once again shivering. The gash was small, but deep, and Kagome tisked in disapproval. "They ought to be ashamed of themselves," she mumbled to herself as she wiped away a little of the blood surrounding the wound. She rubbed her middle finger and thumb together, then slid her middle finger down the wound. Pink energy sparked from the bear's skin in it squealed in fright and struggled to be free of the miko's grasp.

"Be still," she said as she closed the last of the injury. "Or you'll open it again."

The bear growled but held still long enough for her to finish, then jumped down from her arms and glanced up at her. She turned to the bear, then the castle as the beginnings of a great fire roared inside. "You can come with me if you want to," she offered. "Maybe we'll find your family along the way."

The bear snuffled, then padded to her side on all fours like an oddly shaped dog. Together they walked through the gates of the ruined fortress, with Kagome unaware of the small trace of warmth, of humanity, that returned to her eyes.

(End Chapter)

SF: Someone asked me what I planned to do about Kagome's morals. Well I kinda felt that I would have to warp them just a little bit, then straighten them out.

Sango: Because her new power and her methods of using it have to have an effect on her, right?

(SF nods)

Inu-chan: I still think having her run around by herself is incredibly stupid. She's not strong enough to protect herself.

Rin: And I'm having trouble understanding Sesshoumaru-sama's part in the story SF-chan.

SF: Tee hee. I know. That's the plan. The third and last part will be up soon.


	3. Part Three: The Man

**Author's Ramblings**: Well this is the end, the last chapter. I still don't have a clue as to which fic I want to resume next, but I am leaning between A Kiss for a Prince and The Breaking Point. I **KNOW** I won't be starting anything new until at least 50% of what I have is finished. I hate plot bunnies. Loving the bear though. (picks up combat teddy) Thanks so much for everyone's congrats. Oh. Was about to fall into describing the joys of wedded bliss. Before I do that we should get on with the fic.

_The younger houshi was inconsolable, convinced that it was his fault that his brother had been ambushed. In his grief he heard of the legend you speak and soon disappeared from the shrine and the village. We assumed him to be dead and for many moons it seemed that he and his brother were reunited. _

_It wasn't long before we heard of a lone man wandering the four territories, slaughtering youkai as he went. The humans celebrated this unknown warrior, calling him the Youkai Hunter and whenever word came of another of his kills the villagers praised him with songs of his valor. I remember the Lady Miko during this time with a subtle frown on her face during these celebrations. It seemed she knew more about this Youkai Killer, far more than myself or the others in the village knew._

_Months later, long after the word of the new human savior spread across Nippon, I wandered into the woods by myself. I was looking for an herb for my sister and was so happy to help that I didn't realize how far away from the village I ended up until I was standing by the Sacred Tree, the spot where the elder monk died, where Inuyasha would soon be pinned and where I would meet you. The ground at the base of the tree was splattered with blood and gore. Nearby slumped an oni that reminded me of a large dog, a large hairless dog that on its four legs was far taller than I. _

_It saw me, and before I could get away it raised it's massive snout and howled. It was deafening and terrifying, but I could not run. Fear gripped me, held on to me and shook free my good senses. The thought to run arrived too late as the monster's pack, oni that looked exactly like it, emerged from the shadows around us. They surrounded me and I knew that to turn my back on them and run would ensure my quick and agonizing death. All I could do was stand and wait for help to come, and prey that help would come in time._

_Soon it came, in the form of the missing houshi. He stepped into the clearing as silently as a ghost, his eyes connecting with mine first before catching the attention of the oni surrounding me. They snarled viciously, their eyes glittering at the threat to their meal. I watched them, the houshi and the oni, and shuddered. They seemed to share the same dangerous look, that animalistic shifting that made me quake with fear._

"_You must flee this place," the houshi said to me. "Run back to the village and do not look back. Do it now."_

_I turned and fled, and no sooner had I done so did the sounds of a vicious fight begin behind me. I darted through the trees with a swiftness of foot only absolute terror can give you, until I burst from the woods and came to what I thought would be the very outskirts of the village. Instead I came to the nearby hot spring, the one you visit whenever you are camped nearby. I was confused, disorientated and scared and the sounds of the fight seemed to be coming closer. _

_Then everything fell silent around me. The fight stopped as suddenly as it started and I was alone, though I didn't feel alone. Something surged around me, something threatening and vicious and before I could think to do anything else I dived into the murky waters of the spring. I stayed just below the surface, watching through clouded water as a form appeared above the spring. It darted quickly, like a hummingbird, in and out of my view until the distorted face of the houshi appeared on the spring's edge. His eyes were clouded in black, like a youkai lost to the madness of his bloodlust. He sniffed the air and bared his teeth, revealing a set of wicked fangs. His claws gouged into the rocks bordering the spring in frustration and the swirled marks on his face shifted and writhed like parasites. He grunted sharply and disappeared, and I waited for what felt like forever to emerge from the spring. When I surfaced it was my dear sister standing beside the waters, her gentle features concerned as I scrambled from the waters and told her what happened._

_I tell you this child because I want you to think about what you're planning to do. Once you begin you cannot reverse it and there is the chance that you will no longer be able to be accepted in your own era._

_Choose wisely my dear, because there is no turning back._

Part Three: The Man

The library in the Western Fortress was massive, taking up the entire upper floor of the northern section of the fort. From the library's windows one could see the beginnings of the palace gardens and, yards away, the stone wall surrounding the fortress. The bookshelves created a sort of maze, the rows and rows of knowledge twisting and writhing to end in in walls, windows or other shelves of books. Only one path led to the center of the library and Sesshoumaru's desk. This place and it's confusion was Sesshoumaru's sanctuary and it was rare that he was ever disturbed here. . .

Until today.

He frowned thoughtfully at the scroll in his hand and at the set on the end of his desk. The houshi's concern brought him here, to scrolls his father, grandfather and his troops stationed in foreign lands. All in all there were three who experienced this legend first hand. The scroll from his grandfather's time spoke of a human in the northern lands of China, one that his grandfather underestimated when he sent his soldiers to punish a human village responsible for pillaging youkai merchants.

The village was decimated in minutes, with the few survivors begging for mercy at the ancient taiyoukai's feet. Then one by one his grandfather's soldiers fell in gushes of blood and cries of agony. The destructive force moved in near invisibility and it took all of the old tai's strength to subdue the human.

'_His face and hands were marked with what looked like tattoos, but they squirmed on his skin like worms gorged on blood. He snarled and growled like a youkai, had claws like a youkai and seemed to heal with the same speed as a youkai. _

'_We thought the village had loosed this creature upon us until the monster snapped on a human unlucky enough to be near him. I slaughtered this abomination quickly, then left the survivors to their own devices.'_

There was another account, one taken a couple of days before his father's death, which described a youkai's encounter with a houshi that was under the same affliction. It was the last, a study into the phenomenon that concerned Sesshoumaru. The document was one youkai's observation of three humans, two with varying levels of reki and the results.

'_It is with a final conclusion,' _he read as he glanced over the author's impeccable kanji. _'That, though the transformation is possible, it is also extremely dangerous for the human undergoing the change. The physical alterations and increased strength seem to be beneficial as the human's natural abilities nearly double those of your average mid-level oni. It is the catastrophic shift in aura that makes these creatures dangerous, so much so that they become a threat to their fellow man. _

'_What worries this ancient scholar is the amount of destruction these creatures can cause, especially those with holy reki to begin with. The developing youki seems to clash violently with the resident holy energy, resulting in automatic combustion upon reach of the 1000__th__ youkai. Without a balancer, such as a strong sealing talisman or charm, the change from human to other is devastating, both to the human and the human's surroundings._

'_It is my recommendation, Touga-sama, that, without the seal, any human attempting this should be terminated on sight, before they reach their goal and harm others'_

'Wise advice.' Sesshoumaru returned the scroll to the top of the pile and turned toward the window behind him. His claws clicked rhythmically against the solid surface of his oak desk and he frowned, irritation darkening his mood.

'It is without question that the little miko dived into this without the proper research,' he said as his frown deepened. 'Foolish humans. When will they learn that they are made weak and useless. Still. . .' His eyes clouded slightly, his focus on the distant horizon outside his window. He could envision the small female in his mind's eye, her dark eyes sparking in fury as she aimed her weapon at him. She was fierce and completely unaware of here mortality in certain situations. She was almost. . .amusing.

'It is. . .almost admirable, that she would give up so much for her pack. Loyalty as such is hard pressed to find.' He sat for a few moments more, then reached toward the nape of his neck. With a deft flick of his index finger he sliced free a small lock of hair. He weighed the strands in his hand and though they were not many, they were strong. These hairs were the weakest part of him, yet they were able to withstand the most well made weapon.

The strands spun golden light across the room, the light filtering through his outstretched claws as he considered his next course of action.

(II)

What a strange sight she made as she entered the small village. . .

Kagome continued along the dirt path leading through the center of the small gathering, seemingly oblivious of the stares of others as she entered the village's marketplace. The large furry white mass on top of her head shifted and she absently pushed it back to it's position at her crown. The mass twitched, then stretched out a paw and yawned.

The white cub youkai had taken to sleeping on top of her head of all places. Though it was at times aggravating to keep him steady up there, she found that the small cub made a great hat. Maybe that was what the villagers were staring at, but she doubted it. She would imagine that, being a miko willingly passing through a youkai village, they had seen stranger than a sleeping bear cub.

Kagome approached a nearby stand, one with the most beautiful silks she'd ever seen. Her finger traced along a bolt of blue as dark as midnight and she glanced up when the owner of the stand cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry," Kagome replied sheepishly. "It's just so beautiful. Did you dye this yourself?"

"Yes I did, miko-sama, using a rare plant grown near the summit of a nearby mountain," the owner replied.

"This too?" she asked and reached toward a bolt of varying pinks that looked as if it might be the first tie-dye. She smiled when the owner nodded. "It reminds me of sakura blossoms swirling in the wind."

The youkai, a rabbit from what she could tell with short auburn hair and bright pink eyes, blushed at her appraisal. "It is exactly what I was thinking about," the youkai admitted and reached for a female rabbit youkai when she came toward them. "That, and how beautiful my mate looks in their scented breeze."

Kagome smiled and moved to say more when an ancient aura pushed against hers. She turned just as an elderly youkai staggered toward her, her wrinkled hand tightly grasping the gnarled oak limb she used as a walking stick. Dusty strands of silver gray dragged along the ground behind her and her eyes, ancient and foreboding, pinned Kagome with a single stare.

"What brings you here, Youkai Hunter?"

Those five words sent a shiver through the village, the curious glances of the villagers hardening to hate and fear. Kagome straightened her back and prepared herself for attack but the only sound made after the woman's declaration was a small snore from the bundle on her head.

"I'm not here to harm anyone," Kagome explained when they continued to stare. "I found this young cub on the island of the north. He's orphaned and I've heard that this village takes in orphan youkai."

"Aye, that we do," the old youkai nodded and approached the pair. The others around them relaxed instantly, thought their distrust remained as Kagome pulled the cub into her arms.

"You seem to care for this little bundle," the old sage observed while Kgome stroked the bear's fuzzy back.

"He reminds me of someone I know," Kagome replied and smiled. "He doesn't deserve to have to rough it alone. You will take him in."

Though her statement was more of a command than a question, the sage nodded and extended her arms. Kagome placed the cub into her care and frowned when he woke up and whimpered. "He's rather attached to you , Hunter."

"I'm no hunter," Kagome explained. "I'm. . .doing some good. The youkai I kill wouldn't hesitate to wipe this village flat."

"So you're Lady Protector are you?" the youkai rasped in laughter. "Surely the humans under your protection adore you."

"I don't know," Kagome replied with a wry smile. She gestured to the bear and said, "I know he does."

"So he does," the youkai agreed. She rubbed the bear's fur thoughtfully, ancient lavender orbs distant while Kagome looked on and waited. Finally she took the sage's silence as a hint for her to go and, with the bear youkai finally in safe hands, she waved goodbye to the rabbit vendor and made her way toward the village exit.

"My Dear!"

Kagome stopped and turned at the village gate, the wind catching her hair to send it flying behind her like a dark wing. Her eyes seemed to glow a steely gray in the sunlight, but in spite of this foreboding image she still reminded the sage of a lost little girl.

"Turn back Lady Protector, while you still can," the sage called out. The entire village turned toward Kagome at the sage's beseech. "You mean well but you don't know the danger you place yourself in."

"You obviously don't know," Kagome replied. "But I'm a trouble magnet."

"If you continue you will only harm yourself, and the ones you're changing yourself for. Please, miko, turn back."

Kagome thought for a moment, her gaze fixed on her boots as she remembered her friends. She missed them terribly and with every thought of them her heart seemed to painfully clench. She loved them all and now, when she was so close to completing her goal, she didn't dare stop. She needed this power badly. Without it-

"Without it you were just fine," the sage called out. "You can stop now and go back to the way you were. But you won't will you. . ."

Kagome sighed and shook her head. "I'm the one that broke it. I have to do everything I can to fix it."

"Well go on then," the sage whispered as Kagome walked away. "attempt this 'only way' of yours and I will pray for you." She gazed down at the cub in her arms and smiled. "We will pray that she survives, won't we little one?"

(III)

The colors of blood and hate glowed in the darkness, his eyes focused on the tiny child and the mirror in her hands. He smiled as the image changed with his will, leaving the woman-child to spy on those she once traveled with.

"If it is one thing I like to see, Kanna," Naraku began with dark glee. "Its when one tries to better themselves. I once was weak, unable to do anything for myself. But look at me now Kanna!" His laughter was booming and Kagura flinched from her place in the far corner of the room.

"The best part is," he continued with a grin. "once she finishes and gains this power she's looking for, she will most likely go on a rampage and kill everything around her.

"Think of the irony when, instead of making it easier on her friends, they end up hunting and killing **her**! It's perfect really, and its all because she's missing that one little piece of information." He gazed into the glass thoughtfully, his claws softly clicking against the floor underneath him.

"I think we should help her."

Kagura glanced up in surprise. "We should? But Naraku what if-"

"Naraku-sama, Kagura, in case you are forgetting," Naraku corrected. His voice was kind but miasma surged, the sudden thickness blinding and corrosive as it smothered any breathable air. "Kagura, follow the Inu-tachi. Lead them when I command you to."

"Yes Naraku-sama," she wheezed out immediately. She fled as if the devils of Hell were hot on her heels, running through the hallways of the mansion until she came to the enormous doors to the outside. She took to the sky at the first sign of light and flew away, her feather boat guiding her toward Inuyasha and the west.

(IV)

They were weary, their hearts heavy and every step forward felt as if they waded through lead. Their bones creaked, their stomachs growled and the air seemed to wheeze from their lungs. . .

Yet the hanyou, their flame retardant tormenter (or retarded as the case may be) continued onward, his nose in the air and his ears pointed toward the immediate east.

"Inuyasha if you don't stop I swear," Miroku began and sank his staff into the soft earth. "By the Kamis above, I will slap a paralyzing sutra to your ass." He frowned at Inuyasha's refusing growl and stepped forward, said sutra in hand as Shippou and Sango gaped in surprise.

"We are only human and if you don't stop I will **make you**."

"Fuck you and your sutra," Inuyasha snarled defiantly. "We press on and if you don't keep up I will leave your ass here."

Sango and Shippou stepped back, careful to keep out of the way of the testosterone that flew through the air. The sutra in Miroku's hand glowed and his eyes narrowed to slits of deep purple ink.

"Don't play with me Inuyasha," he warned, the future warning slipping effortlessly from his lips. "I'm not Kagome. I don't possess her infinite patience."

"You know what houshi," Inuyasha growled and balled his hands into fists. "I'm tired of your crap. Seems like all you do lately is complain. I'm trying to find Kagome, wherever she is, and keep her from doing something stupid. You're slowing us down and I think you know what she's trying to do."

"Is that true Miroku?" Sango asked from the sidelines. "Do you know where Kagome is?"

"No," Inuyasha answered for him. "But he knows something. Whatdidja say to Sesshoumaru, huh? What'd ya tell him that ya won't tell me?"

"Aw look," called a voice above them. The group looked up instantly, Kirara changing to her larger form and weapons unsheathing as Kagura watched them from her feather boat. "I just hate to see such a close knit family fall out this way."

"Bitch," Inuyasha viciously snarled and launched the Wind Scar in her direction. The attack was surprisingly quick and Kagura barely avoided it, her boat nearly flipping in the onslaught. She laughed anyway and opened her fan. She uprooted massive trees with a single wave and laughed again as the group dodged the enormous projectiles.

"Come on Inuyasha," she bantered from her place on the winds. "Don't tell me you're going soft without your precious miko toy. What would Kikyou say?"

"You fuckin'-" he was in the air before he could finish, Tetsusiaga ready as he sliced Kagura through. . .

Or would have, if she had not fled.

"Dammit!" Inuyasha snapped angrily. "When I catch that bitch- come on! Let's go!" He hop scotched the trees quickly, leaving Sango and Miroku to follow.

"Miroku-sama," Sango began as Kirara raced the wind currents after the pissed off hanyou. "Is it just me, or does this feel like a set up?"

"I agree my lady," Miroku agreed grimly. "But there's no stopping him now. It's best to wait him out, then hope it's not too late for him to see reason."

(0)

He watched the little beauty, her head held high and the effects of her Change evident on her face. She still wore her innocence but now she was more elfin, her features delicate. Her eyes, once dark chocolate does, now shifted in amber-gray light. They seemed to see everything and, with her hair high in a ponytail, he could see the slight point at the tip of her ears. They would hardly cause alarm to any other humans, though she may be made fun of from time to time.

It was her aura that attracted him like the doomed moth to the bright flame. Before she was already more powerful than the previous Shikon Miko, the one Onigumo coveted, but now she was walking power, the Shikon personified. The one thing he found disconcerting was the _life_, not death, that bloomed in her wake. Withered grass greened under her feet, dry flowers bloomed with bright colors and the trees _bowed_ in her wake. It was ludicrous, this welcome of a creature that had slain hundreds of rogue oni and youkai.

It was also counterproductive and most likely hindrance to his plans.

"No matter," Naraku decided with a confidant smile. "All will go according to planned." The air around him stilled then warmed and, oddly enough, the scent of lavender came to him on the sudden wind.

"Come on out Naraku," he heard her call. "I see you."

He cursed inwardly, but smiled and stepped into her line of sight. "Hello reincarnate. Aren't you lovely in your new role?"

Kagome's eyes narrowed but she remained quiet.

"I hear you've gone on a hunt. Tell me then," he said and stepped closer to her silent form. "How is it that, with all the blood you've shed, you walk in purity?"

"Perhaps," she said and stood her ground when the hanyou invaded her space. "It's because I haven't hurt anyone that didn't deserve it." She frowned when, instead of stepping back at her unspoken warning, he leaned in close and sniffed her exposed ear.

"You reek of power miko," he told her with a lustful rumble. Her power signature from afar was amazing but up close it and her scent set his blood boiling. Never in his life had anything, food or drink, made him want so badly as the waves that surrounded him from her lithe form. He was horny as hell and the moment he reached down to 'adjust' himself was the moment a massive force slammed into his chest with the force of a fast moving train. Contact was brief but he went sailing across the clearing before landing on his back a couple of yards away from the yawning miko.

"Whore," he growled painfully. The nerves in his back were screaming and his chest burned, the silk around the four inch hole in the center charred and black. He sat up slowly and spat out a thick clump of what turned out to be his own foul blood. He glanced up at a sudden cry, a bloody grin spread on his lips as he watched Kagome. She stiffened almost instantly and in her reaction knew was coming. 'Time for the next part of the plan,' he said as he wiped his mouth on the back of his hand.

He regained his feet just as Kagura flew into view, garnet orbs wide in surprise at the damage coming from her master. Inuyasha burst into the clearing seconds later, his threats and snarls dying on his lips as he stood and gaped. "K-kagome?" he stuttered in surprise as Kirara landed behind him. "Is it really you?"

"My word," Miroku breathed as he and Sango dismounted the fire neko. "She certainly has changed."

"Now that all of the players are here, I say we get started," Naraku said and in a moment was by Kagome's side again. "Allow me to help you finish, my dear." He reached for her arm and grasped empty air, then quickly stepped aside as Tetsusaiga's massive blade landed in the dirt where he once stood. Naraku laughed, his hand coming up as an afterthought to catch the slayer's far flung weapon.

He tossed it back, uncaring of whether she caught it or it caught her before he turned to Inuyasha. "Look at her," he said and ducked Inuyasha's wild swing. "All that time you cursed her, called her weak and look at her now. Look what you've done, Inuyasha. Aren't you happy?"

"I'm gonna cut off your head," Inuyasha replied with a bloodthirsty grin. "It might shut you up, but you'll still have your ass to talk through."

"How. . .vulgar."

Inuyasha raised his sword high, the coming blow impossible to dodge. He grinned as he brought it down in heavy judgment only to be thrown back by Naraku's barrier. The evil hanyou laughed as Inuyasha was slammed into the thick trunk of a nearby tree, the force leaving him breathless and spread eagle against the wood's massive side.

"You disappoint me," Naraku said as he approached the barely conscious hero. "As if killing me would be that easy. If it were you and your pathetic little band would have done it years ago. I didn't come here for you anyway."

He was almost there, his foot raised to crush Inuyasha's unprotected skull when his airway suddenly closed. The skin of his neck burned and he could smell it, feel it being torn away as he was forced to turn around. The sudden pressure eased and he drew in a breath, the released it in a startled pained scream as something lashed across his face.

"You said you didn't come for him," Kagome said from across the clearing, the two fingers of her left hand glowing a soft pink . "Who are you here for?"

"My dear miko," Naraku replied as he quickly made his way toward her. "I'm here for you. All for you. . ."

His calm approach became a quick jog and Kagome flicked her hand. A beam of energy, lightening fast and bright with holy reki, slapped him again, then slashed deeply into his right thigh. Still he kept coming, ignoring Miroku's staff and Sango's katana in his hurry to grasp the miko. Again and again her whip hit him and his blood pattered on the grass but still he pursued her.

He caught her, his head snapping back when she delivered a glowing punch to his mouth. He snarled angrily, his rage nearly out of control. She kneed him where it hurt and his vision went red, mission forgotten as he grasped her by the throat and slammed her to the dirt below. He erected a quick barrier, barely able to enjoy her friend's cries of surprise when she hit him again, this time catching him in the throat, and spit in his face.

"Let. Me. Go," she demanded and as dangerous as she sounded she was beginning to panic. Kagome didn't like this new, touchy-feely Naraku and she hated that, even after being away from her friends for so long, she still didn't have the strength to fight this monster, this beast who would murder the world.

"What number are you on?"

Kagome glanced up, panic now a full bloomed flower as he glared down at her. Her struggling renewed and Naraku laughed before using his miasma to sap her energy.

"You're on seven hundred and forty-nine, am I correct?" Naraku guessed and laughed. "Why Kagome, if you wanted to kill your friends you should've just asked me. I would've gladly helped you." With that he spit in her face, dark jets of blood from his busted lip spraying her face and hair. She stilled almost instantly, frozen as Naraku laughed and took to the sky.

"Enjoy my little surprise," he called from Kagura's cloud then commanded the wind youkai to retreat as quickly as possible.

The others of her group approached her slowly, with Shippou the first to notice as she stood there, her eyes wide and glassy as she stared into the sky. Miroku reached out but Inuyasha was the first to touch her, his fingertips barely brushing against her forehead to wipe the blood away when she gasped loudly, the intake of air sudden and violent as it rushed into her lungs. She started to shiver then convulsed, her limbs akimbo as her seizure shook her hard enough to break bones. She shook for what felt like hours and her friends could only watch and pray for the best.

She sat up suddenly, her friends backing away as she raised her head and snarled loudly. Birds scattered at the explosion of energy from her and she reached out, her eyes crimson and knocked away the first thing in her grasp. Kirara rolled end over end, with Shippou scrambling to catch her as the others raised their weapons in self defense.

"You must stop Kagome-sama," he called to the feral creature approaching him. "We're your friends. You will harm us if you don't stop."

She looked as if she heard him, crimson fading slightly as she attempted to shake her head clear. She growled in confusion, the first of many blood tears caressing her cheeks before her head snapped up, burning orbs connecting with the holy man as she resumed her advance.

Inuyasha stepped forward and looked back when a snag stopped him. He gaped, then snarled as Sesshoumaru held him back. "Let me go, fucker. Can't you see we got a problem here?"

"Naraku has been here."

"Well duh," Inuyasha vented furiously. He was terrified out of his mind, not of Kagome or that she would hurt them, but of the possibility that they may have to hurt her, and-"You just missed him. If you go west you should pick up his trail."

"I am not here for the evil abomination."

Inuyasha moved to say more, then stopped at Miroku's sudden yowl of pain. "Don't have time for your shit Sesshoumaru! I gotta-"

"You will not get involved."

Inuyasha barked a bitter laughter and snarled, "You can go fuck that. I'm not going to let her do this."

"You are not strong enough to stop her," Sesshoumaru replied with a narrowing of his eyes. "You will grab the others and stand back, or I will knock you out."

Inuyasha snorted in disbelief. "I'd like to see you try that shit, you-" Sesshoumaru held up his hand in passing, a neon green cloud releasing into Inuyasha's face. He went down like a rock seconds later and the gas dissipated as Sesshoumaru neared Sango and Miroku.

As a child, Miroku once watched a cat stalk a mouse in the halls of his teacher's home. He watched as the cat darted along, always with the mouse in sight while it placed itself into a better pouncing position. He once wondered what the mouse felt like in those last moments. Now he could honestly say that he knew.

'What a morbidly funny thought at a time like this,' he said to himself and quickly raised his staff. She was barehanded, and his staff made from blessed metals, yet it bowed under her tiny fist. She smirked victoriously and was reaching for the front of the houshi's robes when Sesshoumaru grasped the back of her shirt and jerked her away.

"Foolish humans," he calmly said as he dragged her toward a nearby tree. "Always attempting the impossible without a thought to the consequences of their actions." Sango, Miroku and Shippou watched, Kirara curled up and unconscious in Shippou's arms, as the taiyoukai held her against a tree with his only hand.

"Houshi."

Miroku blinked, then responded with a hesitant, "Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama?"

"Come here."

Miroku approached slowly, his nerves and reki jumpy at the snarls and growls coming from the pair.

"Do you know what is going on?"

"No Sesshoumaru-sama, I do not," Miroku admitted.

"There is a small ring attached to my sash. Release it."

Miroku did so quickly, a slight "Eeep!" escaping from him when Kagome grasped a fistful of his hair. It was sweaty from his nerves and from the earlier fight, so the strands slid through her fingers. The ring was light and made of a silvery substance that hummed with energy. A section of the ring was missing, and Miroku wanted to ask why when the fur around Sesshoumaru's shoulders slid down his arm.

It wrapped around Kagome and the tree, effectively pinning her in place while he grasped Kagome's leg. "Bless it," the taiyoukai demanded. He slashed through the denim easily and used a single claw to cut his way to her upper thigh. He turned, his hand open and waiting as Miroku finished and returned it. The ring widened in Sesshoumaru's hand and Miroku watched, awestruck, as Sesshoumaru forced the ring onto Kagome's thigh. He closed the ring's open hole with a small piece a metal he had palmed in his hand and his own corrosive acid.

The ring glowed fiercely, nearly blinding everyone before fading to a dim glow. The red bled from her eyes in rivets and Kagome slumped, then fainted dead away.

"Slayer, prepare the miko a place to rest," Sesshoumaru commanded as Miroku picked her up. Sango scrambled toward Kagome's pack and readied her sleeping back, then stood by while Miroku laid their friend's resting form on her blanket. "Houshi, there is much we must discuss," Sesshoumaru began as he leaned against his tree. "Wake the hanyou and sit down, because this Sesshoumaru will only say this once."

(V)

She was a monster.

Just like Naraku.

She stared at her reflection in the water, her eyes like bright coins in the moonlight. She touched her hair, hating the red streak next to her right ear. She wanted to rip it out and the hell with the consequences but knew it wouldn't solve anything. Tears welled in her eyes as she remembered what she did to her friends, her eyes bright silver and gold pieces of despair.

"Cease your foolishness."

Kagome whirled around, nearly slipping off her seat on the boulder as Sesshoumaru's glowing form stepped from the trees.

"Your pack remains unharmed."

"I nearly killed them today-"

"This Sesshoumaru is aware." He sat down on the rock beside her and gazed up as if to ignore her.

"They must be so afraid of me," she whimpered softly. "I did all of this for them. I went through so much to be stronger, not to become a mindless killer."

"The power you will get used to," he assured her quietly, his gaze still on the heavens. "and in turn your pack will get used to you."

Kagome gaped at him, speechless at his attempts to comfort her before good manners finally found her. "Thank you Sesshoumaru-sama," she replied with a respectful bow.

"They told you about the ring."

Kagome reached down and touched it, feeling the cool metal against her thigh underneath her pajama pants. "Will I have to wear this forever?"

"Even I do not know that, miko."

"Oh. Um, Sesshoumaru-sama?"

"Hai miko," he sighed irritably.

"Why. . .how. . .why did you help me?" Of the hundreds of questions circling her head, that one was the most persistent. From the time she awakened from her forced slumber and all through Sango and Miroku's explanation of what happened she felt like a complete and utter fool.

How could she not have realized that she would need a sealing charm? The character in Souta's anime wore ear clips and the last time she was home she watched with Souta as he took them off. Then she thought it was a part of the anime but there was Kaede's story. She was grateful to Sesshoumaru and she struggled for a way to thank him.

"Because."

Kagome blinked, his voice startling her out of her self pity. "Because?"

A dark brow raised slightly, but no other answer was given and he returned to his stargazing. Kagome huffed, wanting to be frustrated but couldn't. This taiyoukai, silent as a tomb in winter, confused her. Why had he helped her and her friends? What did he want in return?

'Probably nothing,' Kagome said to herself with a roll of her eyes. 'He probably thinks he's too important to take anything from me. Still. . .one good deed does deserve another.' She propped herself up and, without a warning to the inu youkai, pressed a quick kiss to his striped cheek. She jumped down from her perch and made her way back to camp quickly, only stopping at Sesshoumaru's threatening growl.

"I bet you want to know why I did that, don't you?" Kagome replied as she glanced over her shoulder. She smiled and continued on her way, leaving the tai disquieted and slightly miffed.

Then he itched unexpectedly and he reached to scratch, not realizing what he was doing until he was scratching the wrist of his renewed left hand. He stared down at it dispassionately, then back toward the noise of Inuyasha's camp. Because he had said and because was right. The miko was a mystery to him before but now. . .

"Now she could be quite entertaining."

(End)

Kagome: So SF-sama, got any ideas for what story you're going to pick up next?

SF: Nope, but I did have a weird dream a couple of n-

Inu-chan: Just what in the blue fuck have you been doing this entire time you lazy-

**ZAP!!!**

**SF: Jerk. I keep telling him about cursing in front of the kids. What's wrong with him? How you keep from sitting him to the other side of the world? If it were me, Native Americans would be staring at him by now.**

**Kagome: Trust me, it's not easy. Now what were u trying to say SF-chan?**

**SF: Oh. Well, I fell asleep with my mp3 player going and had the weirdest dream to Kanye West's song Heartless. You guys were dancing to it, and I mean you guys were throwin' down. Pop locking, break dancing and I woke up laughing my head off, but it was great. **

**Miroku: Do you see where this is going Sango?**

**(Sango nods, then shakes her head in disgust)**

**SF: So I thought, maybe someone could imagine what it was I dreamed and try to draw it. Anyone who sends me a pic, especially one of Sesshou getting' down (he was popping his collar in my dream, but that's just me) can request a chapter. It's the least I can do and I'll even post the pictures on my DeviantArt and Dokuga screen names (giving the artist credit of course. Everyone and their mama knows I can't draw a stick in a tree.)**


End file.
